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Home Science Physics Physics buoy
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Physics/buoy
Expert: Steve Johnson - 3/22/2009
Question
dear sir johnson
i want to know about total forces on a floating structure or buoy.i
want to calculate these forces (like wind,wave, current....). please
guide me.
best regard
Get the answer below
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Answer
Hello ameneh,
That would be very much related to the shape of the structure or buoy. First consider a boat at anchor as your floating
structure. Boats are shaped to minimize drag forces -- some more than others. These forces are minimized for
cigarette racing boats to a high degree, an oil tanker -- not so much. When at anchor, the efforts that minimize the
drag experienced under power would minimize forces in the same way when the boat is anchored. The boat would
naturally swing to face the current or wind. If there is both wind and current, then it will find the best compromise.
If the structure or buoy floats just barely above the surface, wind would not affect it much, but current would. If the
structure is light enough that it displaces very little water, the current wouldn't get much of a hold on it but wind
could. So, this would be hard to calculate.
I can see ways to measure the force. If you put a spring in the cable to the harbor bottom, you could measure the
stretch. And from that determine the force F. The horizontal force on the structure would be according to
Horizontal force on structure = F*cos(theta)
where theta is the angle between the cable and horizontal.
Another possibility would be to measure how much the angle of the cable pulls the structure down farther into the
water than when it is floating free. (To be able to measure this would probably require that the structure be a cylinder
or rectangular solid rather than the complex shape of some buoys.) That additional amount of sinking into the surface
would be equivalent to putting more weight on the floating structure. The additional buoyancy gained would be equal
to the vertical component of the tension in the cable. From that you could calculate the total tension in the cable and
then you could calculate the horizontal component of the tension.
In equation form:
Weight of additional water displaced = T*sin(theta)
where theta is the angle between the cable and horizontal.
Horizontal forces on the structure = T*cos(theta)
I hope this helps,
Steve
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Page 2 of 2 Physics: buoy, ameneh, floating structure
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Physics-1358/2009/3/buoy.htm